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My Pages On Different Subjects which Hyperlinked to all my Blog Posts

Sunday, 20 April 2014

Riots, Violence, Blast,Terrorist attacks in India, Women Rape Incidents, Corruptions During The Last Two (2012,2013) years of Congress Led UPA Government.

2012 Assam
violence :

In July
2012, violence in the Indian state of Assam broke out with riots between
indigenous Bodos and Bengali-speaking Muslims.The first incident was reported
to have taken place on 20 July 2012. As of 8 August 2012, 77 people had died
and over 400,000 people were taking shelter in 270 relief camps, after being
displaced from almost 400 villages. Eleven people have been reported missing.

On 27
July 2012, Assam's Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi blamed the UPA led national
government for a "delay in army deployment to riot-hit areas". The
next day, Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh visited the relief camps in
Kokrajhar and called the recent violence a blot on the face of India. Indian
Home Minister P. Chidambaram visited the state on Monday, 30 July to review the
security situation and the relief and rehabilitation measures being taken.

Lok Sabha
member from Bodoland, Sansuma Khunggur Bwiswmuthiary blamed illegal immigration
for the violence in the state.The Election Commissioner of India, H.S. Brahma,
said that of the 27 districts in Assam, 11 of them will be shown to have a
Muslim majority when the 2011 census figures are published. Singh was
criticised for not dealing with the flood of illegal immigrants from
Bangladesh.

The
violence and exodus of thousands of people from Northeast India reportedly led
to a series of incessant protests in Assam, at multiple locations, during the
months of August–September. The protesters' main demand was expeditious
detection and deportation of illegal infiltrators from Assam. On 15 September,
at a convention of non-political tribal groups, organisations representing
Bodo, Dimasa, Tiwa, Deuri, Karbi, Garo, Rabha, Sonowal Kacharis and other
tribal communities decided to form a coordination committee for the cause. The
tribal leaders said that illegal immigration has threatened the existence,
right to land and resources to all indigenous people of the entire state, and
it was not limited to Bodoland alone.

Congress
led UPA government silently supported illegal Bangadeshi Muslim people to do
whatever their wish against tribal people in India. UPA government even stopped
all media from telecasting and publishing this Riot news of Assam in 2012.

Assam
violence continues, CM blames Centre :

While the
death toll in the ethnic violence in Assam went up to 44, the blame game within
the political arena was on. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi defended his
government against allegations that it was slow to react to the rioting, and
failed to anticipate the violence. He said a reduction in Central forces has
made his task tougher. Gogoi also ruled out resignation, saying that his
resignation over the issue was not going to help matters.

"If
they had the intelligence reports, why did they not act on their own
then?" Gogoi asked. He further said, "It is my responsibility to get
the normalcy back in the area. Had there been full forces there, the situation
could have been controlled, I agree. I did not have sufficient forces. I
requested the Centre but they had requirements across the country... So I
cannot do anything there... It takes time to make movements..."

Gogoi did
not spare the Opposition either, saying that the violence flared up in Assam
because of the NDA regime. "This situation has flared up because of the
NDA regime. They played the politics. I know Advaniji. They are responsible and
they keep accusing us. It is not me who is playing votebank politics. I do not
need a single vote of the illegal migrants," he said.

"Media
keeps asking me if I am resigning. Will my resigning not create chaos?" he
asked, adding, "Like that, administration officers will say they are going
to resign. Then security officers will also say they want to resign... This
cannot go on... That is not the way," he added.In a strong signal to the
three-time Chief Minister, the Congress has set up a 10-member coordination
committee for the state. Some Congress MPs like Rehman Khan had openly
criticised Gogoi, seeking his replacement.

This came
even as Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh had defended the Assam Chief
Minister saying his performance should not be judged by one incident.The
violence, that entered the sixth day on Friday, has left over 2 lakh people
homeless in 400 villages. The people were taken to relief camps. Gogoi had
visited the relief camps in Kokrajhar on Thursday

Supreme
Court cancels all 122 2G licences given by A Raja

Dealing a
major blow to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government the
Supreme Court on Thursday cancelled all 122 telecom licences allotted under the
2G spectrum on or after January 10, 2008. All additional spectrum given to
incumbents on or after January 10, 2008 have also been cancelled.

While
cancelling the licences the Supreme Court ruled that 85 out of the 122 licences
were outside the eligibility criteria for allocation. The apex court said that
the 122 licences for 2G spectrum were granted in an arbitrary and
unconstitutional manner.

The
licences, which were allotted by former telecom minister A Raja, will be
cancelled in four months from now and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(TRAI) must go in for a fresh issue of licences during this period, the apex
court observed.

Three key
CAG reports were tabled in Parliament on Friday indicting the government of
causing a combined loss of crores of rupees to the national exchequer.

The
much-awaited CAG report on coal block allotment said private firms are likely
to gain Rs 1.86 lakh crore from coal blocks that were allocated to them on
nomination basis instead of competitive bidding.

The audit report on Delhi airport slams the
levy of development fee on passengers and says the civil aviation ministry
violated the bid conditions for the benefit of GMR-led DIAL to the tune of over
Rs 3,415 crore.

The third
CAG report flays post-bid concessions to Reliance Power and says the Anil
Ambani-led firm got undue benefit of Rs 29,033 crore when the government
allowed use of surplus coal from blocks alloted to Sasan power plant for its
other projects.

Reacting
to the CAG reports, minister of state in Prime Minister's office V Narayanasamy
said that the govt auditor was not following its mandate.

Meanwhile,
the BJP demanded resignation of the government alleging that scams in the coal,
power and airport sectors had exposed the "loot and plunder" of the
country. "

The party
sought Prime Minister's resignation as he headed the coal ministry at the time
of alleged irregularities.

CAG's
coal report

The CAG
in its report, tabled in Parliament, names 25 companies including Essar Power,
Hindalco, Tata Steel, Tata Power and Jindal Steel and Power which have got the
blocks in various states.

"Delay
in introduction of the process of competitive bidding has rendered the existing
process beneficial to the private companies. Audit has estimated financial
gains to the tune of Rs 1.86 lakh crore likely to accrue to private coal block
allottees," CAG said in a report on allocation of coal blocks. The CAG
said it has arrived at the estimates based on the average cost of production
and average sale price of opencast mines of Coal India in the year 2010-11.

"A
part of this financial gain could have accrued to the national exchequer by
operationalising the decision taken years earlier to introduce competitive
bidding for allocation of coal blocks," CAG said.

1st
coalgate FIR to name fraud firms:

CBI is
giving final touches to its first set of FIRs in the coalgate case, based on
findings of the preliminary inquiry which reveal that allocations were made
arbitrarily without running elementary checks on claims made by applicants.

"Several
companies were given coal blocks simply on the basis of their financial status
and without evaluating their competence vis-a-vis others to operate a coal
mine," said a source familiar with the findings of the preliminary inquiry
which will form the basis of the FIR. In some other cases, the allottees have
been found to have fudged facts to bag coal blocks."Some of the
beneficiaries misrepresented their stage of network preparedness, joint venture
group details and other facts," said the source. "Some other
companies were given coal blocks even when they had not been recommended by
state governments."

The first
set of FIRs will be against six private companies under sections for cheating
and forgery, and under the Prevention of Corruption Act against unknown
officials. Sources added that more than one company could be named in one FIR.
Companies under the scanner are from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka,
said the source.The FIRs will add to the political temperature over coalgate,
although government has distanced itself from those who may be accused by the
agency of any wrongdoing. Coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal had said on Friday
that the minister was responsible only for formulation of policy, and that it
is the bureaucrats who carry out the implementation.

CBI has
questioned screening committee members, secretaries and several joint
secretaries, apart from state officials, to learn about the eligibility of
companies which are under the scanner and the selection criteria.The agency has
examined allocation of 64 coal blocks for which 1,422 applications were received
by the coal ministry between 2006 and 2009. "We have primarily zeroed in
on at least 24 companies but major anomalies have been found with 6 to
10," the source said.

"There
may be some cases where companies may have provided wrong information. It is
also possible that there was shortcoming on part of officials in scrutiny (of
applications), wittingly or unwittingly. It is a matter of investigation by
CBI... The facts will soon come out," Jaiswal had said at a press
conference he addressed last Friday, along with finance minister P Chidambaram
and law minister Salman Khurshid, to denounce the government auditor's report
on allocation of coal blocks.

Coal
scam: CBI registers two new cases against private companies:

CBI on
Saturday registered two fresh cases against two private companies in its
ongoing probe into the coal block allocation scam and carried out searches at
seven locations across the country.

The probe
agency has charged Grace Industries and Vikash Metals and Powers Limited for
alleged misrepresentation of their net worth and joint venture to illegally get
coal blocks, CBI sources said.The sources said raids are being carried out at
seven locations in Kolkata, Nagpur, Purulia and few other places.The Managing
Directors of these companies and unknown government officials have been charged
with cheating, criminal conspiracy and under sections of Prevention of
Corruption Act, they said.

Days
after floating a political party, activists Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant
Bhushan Friday accused Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress president Sonia
Gandhi, of corruption in property deals and questionable ties to realty major
DLF.The Congress termed the allegations "wild" while the BJP demanded
a probe.

Addressing
a press conference here, Kejriwal and his colleague Prashant Bhushan alleged
that Vadra bought property in Gurgaon and other places at prices much below
market rates and sold them at huge profit."Robert Vadra acquired
properties worth hundreds of crores (of rupees) for nothing. What is the source
of these funds," asked Kejriwal.He distributed scanned copies of
documentary evidence to back his claim and also circulated documents which included
the list of 31 properties said to belong to Robert Vadra."This massive
property buying spree by the son-in-law of the ruling dynasty in the country
gives rise to several important questions," he said.

Kejriwal,
who launched his political party last week, alleged that the Haryana government
had acquired 350 acres of land in Wazirabad in Gurgaon for public interest but
gave it away to DLF for building flats, in which Vadra owns seven flats.Vadra,
43, is married to the Congress president's daughter, Priyanka Gandhi."In
the last four years, Robert Vadra has gone on a property buying binge and has
purchased at least 31 properties, mostly in and around New Delhi, which even at
the time of their purchase were worth several hundred crores (of rupees),"
Bhushan alleged.Bhushan said the balance sheets of five companies set up by
Vadra and his mother show that the "total share capital of these companies
was just Rs.50 lakh".Team Kejriwal also alleged that all the property
transactions were done in Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi, which are ruled by
Congress governments.Slamming Team Kejirwal for the allegations, Congress
spokesperson Manish Tewari termed it "political chicanery of the worst
kind".Tewari said Kejriwal and his associates were "up to same old
tricks on the eve of polls. It is clearly evidence that the so-called civil
society that is trying to morph as a political outfit is the B team of the BJP.
They are the same side of the coin".

"I
don't want to dignify with a response, and dismiss (the charges) with the utter
contempt they deserve," said Tewari, adding that Vadra has a "right
to private remedy" in case he wants to file a complaint.Congress MP
Sandeep Dikshit said the story "had come out in The Economic Times
earlier. This is an old strategy of Kejriwal... Vadra had explained the
position at the time... He pays his income tax and has a right to live as he
wants. It is unfair to drag the Congress into it"."Why should anyone
have to answer to anyone about any property they have unless there is anything
illegal about it," Dikshit asked, terming the allegations "wild and
completely unfair".

Real
estate giant DLF declined to comment. Law Minister Salman
Khurshid termed Kejriwal's outfit "a party without a cause".He said
the attack on private individuals, because of their association with eminent
people in the Congress, was in poor taste.Khurshid said the party would reflect
on the matter and give a "befitting reply".However, BJP spokesperson
Ravi Shankar Prasad said the country "is entitled to know what is the
source of funding of Vadra's ventures"."The BJP demands a proper fair
investigation of all these things should be done," said Prasad.He said it
should be probed why DLF would "do such charity for Vadra"."It's
a quid pro quo. Wherever there were Congress governments, the company (DLF) got
land. It is important to tell the nation what business Robert Vadra's company
does."In a statement, the Delhi government said it "is not in the
business of allotting land to private entities" and described Kajeriwal's
allegations as "mischievous and misleading"."The Delhi chief
secretary has clarified that the allegation that Delhi Government allotted land
to DLF is factually incorrect, mischievous and misleading as alleged by
Kejriwal. The allegation is aimed at maligning and vilifying the Delhi
Government and has no substance," the statement said

The
Comptroller and Auditor General(CAG), in its latest report, has pointed out
irregularities in the functioning of Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid's
trust, sources said on Friday.The development comes as a setback to the
minister as he and his wife Louise Khurshid, who happens to be the chief
functionary officer of NGO Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust, as both of them had
vehemently denied any wrongdoing after a Headlines Today-Aaj Tak report
highlighted the alleged forgery of Rs.71 lakh, meant for physically challenged
people.The CAG report also points out that despite knowing about the alleged
malpractices, the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment did not
hesitate in giving funds to Khurshid's NGO in 2011.The ministry is being
audited by the CAG. In the audit it has found that the funds given to the trust
did not reach the desired destination. The audit began almost
one-month-and-a-half ago and the report would be ready in the next eight
months.

Documents
procured in course of investigation and a sting operation carried out by
Headlines Today-Aaj Tak reporters had revealed that

Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy today
said that he will be filing a plea before the Election Commission of India
seeking derecognition of Congress party for giving an unsecured loan of Rs. 90
crore to Associated Journals.

The
Congress admitted on Friday that the party had indeed made "interest-free
loans from which no commercial profit has accrued to the Indian National
Congress". The statement said, "The Indian National Congress has done
its duty... to help initiate a process to bring the newspaper back to health in
compliance with the law of the land."

Swamy had
alleged that the Gandhis (Sonia Gandhi and Rahul) floated a private company
Young Indians to acquire a public limited company Associated Journal, which
published National Herald, for Rs. 50 lakhs. The company they acquired, he said
had property worth Rs. 1600 crore in Delhi.Swamy also alleged that the Congress
gave an unsecured loan of Rs. 90 crore to Associated Journals.Congress
spokesperson P.C.Chacko on Friday challenged Swamy to prove allegations of
wrongdoings against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.He said: "We are now
ready, the person (Swamy) who made this allegations should prove it. We have
sent a letter from Rahulji's office and that amounts to legal
notice."Swamy should have the guts to go to court. This is very strange,
he wants us to file case against him...it is insensible. If there is a
violation of rules, we challenge him to prove it. There is no commercial transaction
here, people are trying to create confusion," he stressed.

Joining
Swamy's battle with the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family, the Bharatiya
Janata Party launched a blistering attack and demanded a clarification from the
Congress regarding the allegations of fraud levelled by Swamy.Addressing a
press conference in Shimla, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said the Congress
leadership must explain the issue, and charged the Congress with violating
provisions of the Representation of People's Act.He also highlighted the
Associated Journals board document produced by Swamy, which says that AICC gave
them an unsecured loan of Rs 90 crores.Jaitley termed it "grossest
impropriety besides being a gross illegality. The country expects a fair answer
from Congress on Swamy"s allegations." (ANI)

5. Late
Sandeep Tandon (former IRS officer)– Rs 125 crore. (Kejriwal said Tandon was
close to Mukesh Ambani. His two sons are also in the reliance). His wife Anu
Tandon has Rs 125 crores too, Kejriwal said. She is the Congress MP from
Congress. Kejriwal also said she is a core group member of Rahul Gandhi)

6.
Kokila Dhirubhai Ambani has no money but has an account.

7.
Naresh Goyal From Jet Airway- Rs 80 crore

8. Dabur
Group - 25 Crore

In his last expose on
October 31, Kejriwal had termed RIL's D-6 block in the Krishna Godavari (KG)
basin deal as a "classic case of crony capitalism" and said both the
BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Congress-led UPA governments
were responsible.

Asserting that the
government is succumbing to illegitimate demands of Reliance Industries,
Kejriwal had said Mukesh Ambani is running the country and not Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh.He had demanded that
Reliance should be stopped from exploiting national wealth and an end should be
put to "crony capitalism".

Kejriwal had earlier
targetted Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra's land
deals, the then Law Minister and present External Affairs Minister Salman
Khurshid of allegedly misusing funds allotted to his NGO and BJP president
Nitin Gadkari. Arvind Kejriwal targets HSBC, Ambani brothers

(PTI) In his latest
round of allegations, Arvind Kejriwal today targeted multinational HSBC Bank
accusing it of indulging in money laundering and claimed Ambani brothers,
Naresh Goyal and Congress MP Annu Tandon had parked their blackmoney in its
Geneva branch.Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal and lawyer Prashant
Bhushan alleged around Rs 6,000 crore blackmoney was lying in 700 accounts of
the Geneva branch of the bank.They claimed that people who had deposited
"small amounts of money" in the bank were raided but "big
fish" like Mukesh and Anil Ambani, Naresh Goyal (Jet Airways), Tandon and
Burmans (Anand, Pradeep and Ratan) of Dabur were "let off" at the
behest of the government. "Who is running the country? It seems that
Ambani is running the country," said Kejriwal, pointing out the silence of
Singh. He also provided statements of three persons, whose names appeared in
the list and questioned by Income Tax officials, in which they have told
interrogators that HSBC facilitated them opening accounts without them going to
Geneva.

The money was handed
to over to an agent here and whenever, they wanted to withdraw they used to
contact a person in Geneva and the amount was delivered in India, he
alleged."There is no physical transfer of money. This is money laundering.
The statements by the three persons reveal that HSBCis openly and brazenly
running a hawala racket in India."These statements are enough to arrest
HSBC officials. Their operations should be immediately suspended as it is a fit
case for charging them under sedition and waging war against India,"
Kejriwal said.Alleging that only about 125 of the 700 persons named in the list
were raided, Kejriwal sought to question the rationale behind the pick and
choose policy of the government in excluding the big fish from the raids.

Kejriwal said the then finance minister Pranab
Mukherjee had even planned an amnesty for all the 700 Swiss account holders. He
also demanded strict action against HSBC bank for encouraging kidnapping,
corruption and terrorism in the country."Like America, we should enact a
law that makes it mandatory for foreign banks operating in the country to
furnish a list of all account holders to the income tax department," he
said, asking the thousands of HSBC bank employees to quit their jobs.

Farmers’
protest turns aggressive in Maharashtra:

Seeking
better prices for sugarcane, agitating farmers in the state of Maharashtra went
on a protest on Wednesday in which the farmers and police had a scuffle with
each other that sent shock waves all through Kolhapur, Satara and Sangli
districts.

The
protesting farmers set a police jeep on fire and also damaged several state-run
buses. Police had to lathi-charge to disperse the protesters and also opened
fire to restrict the irate mobs in which a farmer was injured after he was hit
on the leg in the clash. Earlier on
Monday, a farmer was reportedly dead after the police opened fire to contain
the agitating protesters said the
police.

According
to the farmers, they are making a demand of Rs 3,000 for one ton of sugarcane
instead of Rs 2,300 which they claim to be too less. The owners of the factory
who are said to be the most powerful politicians from the ruling Congress and
the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), however are not accepting the demand of
the farmers.

The
protest turned aggressive following the arrest of the Independent MP Raju
Shetty, under whom the agitation has been led. Mr Shetty was lodged in the
Yerawad central jail in Pune after his refusal to apply for a bail.

In the
meantime, activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal, took a chance using the
hot-tempered opportunity by pulling himself into the matter accusing the government of Maharashtra by
saying that the farmers’ interests have
been ignored as most of the owners of the sugar factory are very close to the
ruling party in the state.

Extending
his support, social activist Anna Hazare also condemned the act of police
firing on the agitating farmers and criticized the state government for being
cruel to the farming community.

CBI
Director exposes Congress abuse of agency:

Former
CBI director US Mishra’s allegation that he faced political pressure during
investigation of the disproportionate assets case against then Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister and BSP chief Mayawati is, by itself, nothing startling.
Everyone knows that the UPA Government is bartering with SP and BSP. Earlier,
on the FDI retail logjam, BSP had bailed the Government out in Lok Sabha and
Rajya Sabha. UPA is repaying the debt by ensuring that the Quota Bill gets
passed in Parliament.

There is
nothing unusual and unprecedented in Mishra’s statement. Similar views have
been expressed by another former CBI director Joginder Singh, who was asked to
go slow on the Fodder Scam against Lalu Prasad Yadav by then Prime Minister IK
Gujral. Singh had declined to oblige saying that he needs that thing in
writing. The written statement never came but the CBI chief was transferred
soon after.

According
to Sunday Guardian, former joint director of CBI NK Singh who arrested Indira
Gandhi in 1977 also had to face similar incidents in the past.

Remembering
one such incident, NK Singh had said that because of this CBI-Congress nexus, D
Sen was given two extensions by Indira Gandhi and he stayed on as CBI director
for six years between 1971 and 1976. Later on Shah Commission, which was formed
to look into Emergency excesses, slammed D Sen for abusing his power and
authority.There is no need to give more examples to prove that the current UPA
Government is completely exposed. Congress has always used CBI for their own
benefits and to settle scores.

CBI – A
Caged Parrot Till UPA Leaves!!

CBI director Ranjit Sinha

There it
comes from the horse’s mouth himself. In a shocking confession to the apex
court’s derisive remark, CBI director Ranjit Sinha said ‘whatever the Supreme
Court has said is correct’, the Supreme Court on 6th May, while examining the
affidavit submitted by the premier investigating agency of the country on coal
scam, had mentioned that the Central Bureau of Investigation ‘has become a
caged parrot speaking its master’s voice’.

But the
callous observations of the highest court of the land, against government
officials for vetting the draft status report and suggesting changes in it and
against CBI for not following the court’s direction and sharing the report with
the political functionary and changing the ‘heart’ of the report at the behest
of its political masters, made no difference to the susceptibility of the
political executive to use CBI as its handmaiden.

Quite
often these days, it is said that the people at the Centre use, abuse and
misuse CBI to push away their opponents for their benefit. Well fortunately
(for the people of the country) or unfortunately (for the ones who tried
protecting the ‘political masters’ but got exposed!!), we did get a true picture
of the massive corruption our leaders are involved in and how power and the
institution is being used to cover it up! At ‘Your’ Service

As a
result of the growing relationship between the bureaucrats, government and CBI
we have had several instances of travesty of justice by the CBI working under
the UPA regime. The agency has had a record of restricted and politically
friendly inquiries. It has now been caught red-handed working at the will of
the politically powerful and saving them from being prosecuted. Because of the
comfortable relationship that CBI shares with the authorities at the Centre,
the Central Bureau of Investigation has had the privilege of acquiring new
synonyms like the ‘Compromised Bureau of Investigation’ and the ‘Congress
Bachao Institute’.

Regardless
of the vastness of corruption that prominent Congress leader Late YSR Reddy was
engaged in, the CBI looked the other way around, but when his son Jagan Mohan
Reddy parted ways with Congress, CBI was put behind him.

Throwing
some more light on this practice of the Congress, to use the CBI at its beck
and call, few months ago Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav claimed
that Congress led UPA government had put CBI behind him, despite the fact that
he had saved UPA in times of crisis. This certainly is enough to substantiate
the new names awarded to CBI.

To master
this practice the Congress again treaded on the same line when DMK withdrew its
support from UPA over the Sri Lankan Tamil issue. DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s
son, M K Stalin’s residence was raided a day after the party withdrew its
support.

The
compromised position of the CBI got exposed when the “suspects” in the coal
scam were given the license of making corrections in the status report. The Law
Minister, Ashwini Kumar, whom the Congress defended by saying that he was
making grammatical corrections to the CBI’s draft status report, thought that
he was at liberty to make alterations to the basic substance of the report as
he was a representative of the political sovereign. Confidence at its
heights!It is because of this closeness, that the
CBI tried shielding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in spite of evidences of his
having direct link in the coalgate scam. As expected, he was given a clean chit
by the agency. But the fact still remains in the open that he was the coal
minister when the coal block allocations were made and unquestionably the
allocations could not have been made without his approval. The
recent review of the draft status report by the Supreme Court not only makes
the Prime Minister’s position untenable but also indefensible! In a bid to get
away from Opposition’s sharp attack the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die. To save its
own skin the government sacked both the Law Minister Ashwini Kumar and the
Railway Minister Pawan Bansal over serious charges against them in coal scam
and railway bribery scam respectively. With the Prime Minster asking for their
resignation, it has also been exposed that the UPA has been using CBI to
protect the head of the government and abusing and misusing the CBI for
brazenly saving its ministers.

Gang-rape
victim fights on, rage spreads:

The rage
spread, rapidly and steadily, through India's national capital Friday as
students, activists and just concerned citizens gathered at various places in
the city to protest the torture and gang-rape of a young woman, now battling to
stay alive in a Delhi hospital.

As the
protests literally reached President Pranab Mukherjee's doorstep, with angry
demonstrators going right up till the gates of Rashtrapati Bhavan and one even
managing to enter the complex, Delhi Police finally nabbed the two men who were
at large.As the evening set in, hundreds reached 10 Janpath, Congress chief
Sonia Gandhi's offficial residence, and held candle march and noisy protests.
Police erected barricades and stopped anyone from entering her heavily
fortified residence.The parliamentary standing committee on home affairs, on
its part, summoned union Home Secretary R.K. Singh and Delhi Police
Commissioner Neeraj Kumar Dec 27 to discuss atrocities against women and the
law and order situation in the national capital.R.K. Singh and Neeraj Kumar
later held a press conference and said they will be seeking "maximum
punishment" for the accused persons. They said they will seek fast-track
and day-to-day trial in the case that has shocked the nation.

But the
Delhi High Court said it is not "convinced" with the status report
filed by the Delhi Police which did not mention the details of police officials
patrolling the area where the woman was gang-raped and tortured in a moving
bus.A division bench of Chief Justice D. Murugesan and Justice Rajiv Sahai
Endlaw said: "We have gone through the report and we are not convinced.
None of the details of the police officials has been mentioned," said the
court expressing its displeasure at the police for not filing the detailed
report.Faced with the growing outrage, with protests not just in New Delhi but
also elsewhere in the country, Delhi Police arrested two more accused,
including one who has claimed that he is a juvenile. The sixth man identified
as Akshay Thakur has been arrested from Aurangabad in Bihar.

In scenes
unprecedented in the city, multiple protests broke out - at India Gate,
Rajpath, Rashtrapati Bhavan, Jantar Mantar and 10 Janpath in the heart of
Lutyens Delhi as well as outside Safdarjung Hospital, where the 23-year-old
victim of the savage gang-rape fought a valiant battle against her injuries but
continued to stay critical.

Rarely,
if ever, have so many people taken to the streets in so many different places
for a single cause. It was an unstoppable momentum.Demanding justice and fast
track courts, many people have rallied in protest in the capital in the five
days since the incident Sunday night, when the physiotherapist intern was
brutally assaulted and her male friend beaten in a moving bus. Both were
stripped and dumped by the roadside near the domestic airport after the nearly
40-minute ordeal.

"Hang me!"
So said an accused in the gang-rape of a young woman Wednesday in a Delhi
court, which sent him and two others to police remand after all of them
admitted their involvement in the crime.

Vinay Sharma, an
assistant gym instructor, told the court that he had beaten up the gang-rape
victim's male friend, but did nothing with the girl and told Metropolitan
Magistrate Namrita Agarwal: "Hang me!"

The other accused
Pawan Gupta and Mukesh, the brother of co-accused bus driver Ram Singh, in
whose vehicle the crime took place, were also presented in the Saket court.

The magistrate sent
Gupta and Sharma to four days' police custody. Mukesh was sent to Tihar jail on
14 days' custody.Mukesh, after confessing to the crime, agreed to undergo an
identification parade. Gupta and Sharma refused to do so.Gupta told the court
that he did not want to undergo the identification exercise as he had committed
a 'horrible act'.The court said that Mukesh would undergo the identification
drill - in which an alleged offender is brought before witnesses and victims -
on December 20 in jail.

The bus driver, who
was Tuesday sent to police remand till December 23, had refused to undergo the
identification parade.The Delhi High Court took suo motu notice of the
gang-rape incident and remarked: 'Nobody is safe here.' The high court told
police to file a report by Friday.The rape and torture occurred Sunday night,
when the woman and her male friend boarded a private bus in south Delhi after
watching a movie.

Hyderabad
blasts: Ammonium Nitrate used in bombs:

A day
after two blasts rocked Hyderabad's busy Dilsukh Nagar area, reports indicate
ammonium nitrate, a small quantity of explosives and iron nails were used in
the bombs.

Initial
reports on Friday copper wires used to tie several pieces of the bombs together,
which were packed in aluminium containers.It is also speculated a delayed timer
was used for detonating the bombs used in the blasts. The delayed timer
provides ample time for the bomb-planter to escape after placing the bomb.

Police on
Friday gathered vital clues in the devastating bomb attacks in Hyderabad and
also announced rewards for anyone providing information about the suspects seen
in Dilsukh Nagar where the evening rush hour bombings on Thursday also maimed
dozens.Meanwhile, the death toll in the twin bomb blasts that rocked Hyderabad
rose to 16 with two more of the injured succumbing to their injuries today
while the Crime Investigation Department (CID) began the probe.The toll could
mount further as the condition of some of the injured is critical.Intelligence
sources on Thursday night said the modus operandi 'bombs on bicycles and choice
of locations' pointed to the Indian Mujahideen, an amorphous group suspected to
have carried out the May 2008 serial blasts in Jaipur, where too bombs were
tied to eight brand-new sports bicycles.

Security
sources said they also suspected the Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Lashkar-e-Toiba,
which had promised to retaliate after India hanged Afzal Guru for his
involvement in an attack on Parliament in 2001.Home Minister Sushil Kumar
Shinde said on Friday India had intelligence agency warnings of a security
threat several days before two bombs went off in the city.Two first information
reports were registered at Saroornagar police station under the limits of
Cyberabad police commissionerate. The case was later handed over to the
CID.National Investigation Agency with the help of Central Forensic Science
Laboratory and Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratory gathered clues from
the sites of both the explosions.

Police
get vital clues

Police on
Friday gathered vital clues in the devastating bomb attacks in Hyderabad and
also announced rewards for anyone providing information about the suspects seen
in Dilsukh Nagar where the evening rush hour bombings on Thursday also maimed
dozens.Cyberabad Police Commissioner D. Tirumala Rao asked people for
information about a young man seen in the area before the bombs went
off.Claiming that police had obtained many clues, Rao said he was confident the
case would be cracked. He said investigations were on at a brisk pace.Police
are believed to have gathered revealing clues from CCTV footage."I don't
think CCTVs have failed. Some images have been captured," Union Health
Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters after a visit to the scene of attack
on Friday evening.Of the three CCTVs in the area, two are believed to have
captured some images which may help the police in identifying the terrorists
who planted bombs near two cinema theatres.

Kerala -
'Happening' state this week:

Much national
news was made in Kerala this week. The case of the diplomatic row over the
trial of the two Italian marines accused of shooting dead two fishermen Feb 15,
2012 continues, even as the antics of a loose-tongued chief whip of the Kerala
assembly, P.C. George, made headlines.Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has been on
edge this past year, after the killing of the fishermen off the Kerala coast by
the marines.

The
Communist Party of India-Marxist in the state lost no opportunity to fish in
troubled waters over the Italian marines issue, and went so far as to link
Congress president Sonia Gandhi to the case, given her country of origin.Till
the end of last year, Chandy played safe. He won appreciation for the tough
stance he took. When the marines were granted permission to return to Italy for
Christmas, many felt Chandy had succumbed to pressure from Delhi. There was
apprehension that they would not return, but they were back ahead of the
deadline that time.In January, however, the apex court ruled that the marines
case would be tried in a special court to be set up in Delhi; the Kerala High
Court did not have jurisdiction in the matter. Tongues were set wagging again,
and many held that the chief minister's efforts would come to nought. The fears
came true -- after the change of government in Italy, the government of that
country has now decided not to send the marines back. (The two were allowed to
return February to cast their votes and spend time with their families).

"There
will be no laxity on our part. We have already told the centre that the marines
will have to return to face trial," Chandy said, as the matter became a
hugely contentious and completely unprecedented diplomatic row between the two
countries.The CPI-M has been using this instance to raise emotions.

"Who
does not know that all the players in this case are colluding and the fears
that we raised soon after the incident took place are now coming true,"
said CPI-M politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.As Chandy entered
damage-control mode, flying to Delhi and interacting with Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, fresh trouble was unleashed back home by chief
whip of the assembly George, a veteran six-time Kerala legislator, who alleged
that Minister of Forests K.B. Ganesh Kumar was beaten up by his lover's
husband.A Malayalam newspaper had earlier reported the incident, without
disclosing the minister's name.As the issue hogged headlines in the state,
George went a step further and unleashed a diatribe on a TV channel against two
top leaders, K.R. Gowri and late T.V. Thomas, married couple that later parted
ways over political differences, and both former ministers.This led to
widespread protests from both the ruling and opposition legislators.Friday
morning, this issue flared up in the Kerala assembly. The entire opposition was
up in arms, demanding action against George for his frequent lapses into
tactlessness. The uproar in the assembly came just as Finance Minister K.M.
Mani was about to present the state budget.

George,
however, said it was all because of a mischievous TV channel that had aired
what was meant to be a private chat. "If anyone feels hurt, I
apologise," he said.

Speaker
G. Karthikeyan intervened to assure the house that he would look into the rules
and procedures of the house to deal with the issue.

Chief
Minister Oommen Chandy has been a legislator for four decades, and realises
that some of the pressures he faces comes from running a coalition government.
What compounds the problem is the thinness of the majority -- just three
legislators separate the rival fronts in the 140 member assembly.

"Those
who occupy public positions should be careful when they make statements,"
remarked Chandy.As a new session of the assembly begins Friday and extends till
the second week of next month, Chandy braces for more punches from the
opposition.

Haryana
IAS officer Khemka transferred again:

Senior
IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who had ordered a scrutiny of land deals of UPA chief
Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, was Thursday transferred by the Haryana
government to an inconsequential post. Khemka, now managing director of the
Haryana Seeds Development Corp (HSDC), will now be secretary of Haryana
Archives, which is responsible for preserving public and private records in the
state.The latest transfer came after Khemka highlighted irregularities in HSDC,
leaving the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government embarrassed.

Khemka
has been transferred almost 45 times in his two-decade-long career as an Indian
Administrative Service (IAS) officer.

He hit
national headlines in October last year when he cancelled a mutation of a
multi-crore-rupee land deal between Vadra's company Sky Light Hospitality and
realty giant DLF.The officer even ordered a probe into all land deals done by
Vadra and his companies in Haryana's Gurgaon, Faridabad, Mewat and Palwal
districts since 2005.After Khemka's action Oct 8, the Hooda government went into
an overdrive to undo it. Within days, the district authorities of four
districts gave a "clean chit" to the land deals done by Vadra and his
companies.

The Hooda
government set up a committee of bureaucrats to look into the action taken by
Khemka. The committee held that Khemka's actions as director-general of land
consolidation were not in accordance with laid down procedures.Khemka
questioned the rationale of the committee in submitting its report without even
seeking his views on the action taken in the land deals.An unfazed Khemka also
claimed that action taken by him as director general of consolidation could
only be reviewed by the high court and the state government did not have the
jurisdiction to undo it.Khemka was removed from his post Oct 11 by the Hooda
government, which sought to project it as a routine transfer.Vadra and his
companies had made land purchases of nearly 170 acres in Gurgaon, Palwal, Mewat
and Faridabad districts since 2005.

Rajiv
Gandhi middleman for Swedish jets in 1970s: Wikileaks :

Was Rajiv
Gandhi a middleman in the 1970s for a Swedish company that was looking to sell
fighter jets to the Indian Air Force?

A
sensational claim to that extent has been made in a new round of WikiLeaks
expose of US diplomatic cables relating to “the Henry Kissinger era”, published
in India in collaboration with The Hindu.

One of
the stunning cables (read here), sent by the US embassy in New Delhi in October
1975 (when India was under Emergency), records in telegraphic language that:
“Swedish Emboff has informed us that main Indian negotiator with Swedes on
Viggen at New Delhi end has been Mrs Gandhi’s oler (sic) son, Rajiv Gandhi.
Latter’s only association with aircraft industry (to our knowledge) has been as
pilot for Indian Airlines and this is first time we have heard his name as
entrepreneur.”The allegation against Rajiv Gandhi as an arms dalal relates to
the mid 1970s. Getty Images.This is arguably the most sensational of the claims
relating to India in the first tranche of the Kissinger Cables, which The Hindu
has begun serialising from Monday.

There is
no independent confirmation or denial of the claim that the then Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi’s son, who was then a pilot with Indian Airlines, did in fact
negotiate on behalf of the Swedish company Saab-Scania, which was looking to sell 50 Viggen fighter
aircraft to India. The very cable that mentions Rajiv Gandhi as an
“entrepreneur” also states explicitly that US officials have “no additional
information to either refute or confirm the above information.”In any case,
Saab-Scania lost out on the deal, having been forced to withdraw from the
“fighter sweepstakes” by the US; the deal was eventually secured the British
SEPECAT Jaguar.Nevertheless, the allegation that Rajiv Gandhi, the man who would
later become Prime Minister and become
embroiled in another scandal relating to another Swedish arms manufacturer in
the Bofors howtizer gun deal, may have served as a middlemen of sorts in a
fighter jets deal has the potential to send political feathers flying in India.

Nor is
this the only suggestion that Rajiv Gandhi was engaged in negotiating on behalf
of Saab-Scania. The Hindu report (here) cites another cable from the US embassy
in New Delhi from February 1976 (read here), which quotes Swedish embassy
officials as waxing eloquent on Rajiv Gandhi’s merits in pushing the dealThe
cable notes: “The Swedes here have also made it quite clear they understand the
importance of family influences in the final decision in the fighter
sweepstakes. Our colleague describes Ranjiv Gandhi (sic.) in flattering terms,
and contends his technical expertise is of a high level. This may or may not
be. Offhand we would have thought a transport pilot not the best expert to rely
upon in evaluating a fighter plan, but then we are speaking of a transport
pilot who has another and perhaps more relevant qualification.”The Kissinger
Cables relating to India also have other sensational claims, including that at
the height of the Emergency, Socialist labour leader George Fernandes, who was
then organising a campaign of violent sabotage activities, sought funds from
the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the French government. (Read The
Hindu report here and the US Embassay cable here.)But the bombshell relating to
Rajiv Gandhi is arguably the most sensational.

Bomb blast
near BJP office in Bangalore, Centre orders probe:

At least
16 people have been injured in a bomb blast near BJP office here in
Malleshwaram on Wednesday morning. The injured include 8 cops, according to TV
reports.

Investigators
probing the blast say that a bomb was fitted on a motorcycle parked near the
BJP office.Police sources said the blast occurred in a black Ind Suzuki
motorcycle parked next to a Maruti Omni on the pavement diagonally opposite to
the BJP office.As the bomb went off in the motorcycle, the Omni and another
Santro car parked next to it went up in flames. A Honda Dio and Bajaj Chetak
scooters parked to the left of Santro car too caught fire.Two KSRP vans, with
policemen, parked near the two scooters also took the brunt of the attack. The
front window panes of one of the vehicles was shattered. Initially, the police
had suspected that the explosion was due to the blast of a LPG cylinder placed
in the boot of a car.However, the city police chief ruled this out after
initial inspection.

"It's
not a LPG cylinder blast as suspected," Bangalore police commissioner
Raghavendra Auradkar told reporters after visiting the site.Raghavendra
Aurandkar said that police suspect the blast was caused by explosives strapped
to a bike, parked near BJP office.However, this can be confirmed only after
investigations, he added.The motorcycle used to place explosives was completely
destroyed in the explosion.The police have launched a manhunt to trace its
owner.The extent of damage suggests that the bomb was strapped to the bike,
sources added.Cops are questioning mechanics to find if they fitted anything
suspicious on to any bike in the recent past.The police are also focusing on
around half-a-dozen phone numbers on which calls were made to and from in the
area between 10 and 11 am during which the blast took place.Meanwhile, the
Centre has ordered an inquiry into the blast."I have ordered an inquiry.
The secretary home department will look into it," Union home minister
Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters in Kolkata.

Railway
bribery scam: PK Bansal resigns:

Railway
minister Pawan Kumar Bansal resigned on Friday after a bribery scam involving
his family members hit the ministry.Bansal met Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan
Singh at the latter's official 7, Race Course Road (RCR) residence.Bansal's
resignation comes after Sonia Gandhi's meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh.Congress President Sonia Gandhi had asked the PM to take a final decision
on the ministers. According to news channel CNN-IBN, Sonia Gandhi felt that
allegations against the minister's kin may damage party's image and that the
damage must be controlled.Congress Party earlier in the day made it clear that
'it is not going to spare anybody mired in corruption'."The Congress is
examining the issue very seriously," Congress spokesperson Bhaktcharan Das
told reporters here, when asked about the bribery allegations against
Bansal.Earlier in a possible sign of things to come, Bansal had skipped a
cabinet meeting on Thursday and also did not attend office on Friday.

CBI
investigation next?

Bansal is
likely to be quizzed soon by the CBI in connection with the alleged Rs 10 crore
bribery scandal involving his nephew Vijay Singla and Railway Board member
Mahesh Kumar, both of whom reportedly met at his residence. According to a CNN
IBN report, although there are no direct evidences of Bansal's direct
involvement in the scandal, he may come under scrutiny of the CBI if enough
leads are found to warrant his questioning.

The CBI
on Thursday had questioned Bansal's private secretary in connection with the
alleged Rs. 10 crore bribery scandal that involves minister's nephew V Singla.A
Delhi Court had earlier sent five accused, including Bansal's nephew Vijay
Singla, to judicial custody till 20 May in connection with the Rs 10 crore
railway bribery case.The Special CBI Judge Swarna Kanta Sharma sent Bansal's
nephew Vijay Singla, suspended Railway Board member Mahesh Kumar, and three
other accused-Singla's close aide Ajay Garg, businessman Sandeep Goyal and
Managing Director of GG Tronics India Pvt Ltd, Narain Rao Manjunath-to judicial
custody after they were presented in court.The CBI, which moved an application
seeking to send them in judicial custody, said the investigation in this case
is in progress and it is still at an initial stage.The investigating agency told
the court that crucial witnesses are yet to be examined and some documents are
to be collected from various departments.The court while accepting the CBI's
plea sent all the five accused to judicial custody.Bansal had earlier told the
Congress leadership, including the Prime Minister, that he has no business
links with his nephew.64-year-old Bansal, who was made Railway Minister in
October last year, also sought an expeditious CBI inquiry into the
issue."I have always observed highest standard of probity in public life
and look forward to an expeditious investigation by CBI in the matter," he
said.

Govt says
‘terror' attack after blasts at Mahabodhi Temple:

A series
of explosions in and around Buddhism's holiest shrine in Bihar injured two
persons early on Sunday, in what the government described as a “terror” attack.
The Mahabodhi Temple complex is located in Bodh Gaya, the place where the
Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment.

“It is a
terror attack ... no outfit has claimed credit for these attacks,” junior home
minister RPN Singh told reporters.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the
blasts and said such attacks on religious places “will never be tolerated”.The
explosions, which occurred between 5:30 am and 6 am, injured two persons, Bihar
police chief Abhayanand told reporters in Patna.Four blasts occurred inside the
Mahabodhi Temple premises, three blasts at Tergar monastery and another near
the famous 80-foot Buddha statue, Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami said,
adding a team from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will probe the
explosions.

One blast
occurred where a tourist bus was standing, Home Minister Sushil Shinde informed
reporters.An eyewitness monk told a TV channel he heard explosions near the
Bodhi tree, a sacred fig near the Mahabodhi Temple which is said to be a
descendent of the one Buddha sat under for three days and nights in the sixth
century BC, before finding enlightenment.“The place where we offer butter
lamps, there was one explosion there. The incident occurred behind the Bodhi
Tree,” he said

"Cowardly
attack on Mahabodhi Temple is a matter of great sadness for the people of India
and the Buddhist community around the world," Modi wrote on micro-blogging
site Twitter.Nine serial explosions rocked the internationally renowned temple
town of Bodh Gaya, including four in the Mahabodhi Temple complex, injuring two
monks in the blasts.

The
Mahabodhi Temple is frequented by Buddhist pilgrims from Sri Lanka, China and
Japan and the whole of southeast Asia. A total of 52 countries have established
their monasteries here.